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Nobody Wants Your Sh*t
by Messie Condo

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This hilarious and motivational book is a slightly off-putting parody of Marie Kondo's work. F*ck and sh*t are not part of my daily vocabulary, but it's surprising how effective the use of these words and their derivatives were to get me started on decluttering. I recommend listening to the electronic audio version. Hearing is so much better than reading in this case

The Boys In The Boat
by Daniel Brown

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Life has not provided any privilege to the 9 men from the University of Washington crew. The German government has subsidized and trained its oarsmen to assure a win in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin during Hitler's rule. We know who won the big race and Brown's supplies the details, perhaps too much detail about all the races leading up to the Olympics. It's still a good read.

The Violin Conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb

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The Violin Conspiracy started off slowly, but quickly accelerated. A family fiddle turns out to be a Stradivarius. The fiddler is Ray, a Southern Black youth who ends up playing at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow on a substitute violin after his Strad is stolen. The best sections of rhe book include incidents of racial profiling and discrimination and occasions when Ray is transported by the classical music he plays. An excellent choice for the CNY Reads event.

Nobody Wants Your Sh*t
by Messie Condo

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This hilarious and motivation

Philadelphia, Here I Come!
by Brian Friel

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This play can be seen off Broadway this spring in NYC. It's a bit different because the main character, Gar, has a public voice as well as a private one that expresses his worries & doubts about moving to the US. There's also unrequited love, a father that doesn't communicate and, of course, a priest.

The Lost Apothecary
by Sarah Penner

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I went into this book with only the knowledge of its popularity. It was an excellent read! I appreciated the delicate switches between historical and present day timelines. It was interesting to make connections and see the developments between Caroline, Eliza, and Nella, even though their stories were 200 years apart they still struggled with the same feelings of loss, loneliness, fear, and anger. I absolutely recommend this compelling read!

Monsters
by Claire Dederer

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The author is a literary critic who seems to have spent a very long time thinking about whether we should enjoy and honor the art of people who have behaved badly during their lives. Picasso's paintings, Michael Jackson's music and Roman Polanski's films are examples. Dederer aptly writes that the behavior stains the art. She asks if the audience should cancel the artist, embrace the art or settle for something in between. And after much debate and analysis, readers are left to decide for themselves if they can love art if the artist is flawed. Not an easy read, but Dederer makes it an enjoyable read.

The Coworker
by Frieda McFadden

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Kept me guessing until the end!

The Library At The Edge Of The World
by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

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This was my choice from the Library Lover's Month display. Hanna Casey has returned to her roots on a western Ireland peninsula and settles for being a local librarian instead of being an art librarian in London. This story would make a great Hallmark channel movie because, of course, there's no place like home.

When I Was Your Age
by Kenan Thompson

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This was a feel good story and quick read. If you are an SNL fan, this would be a fun book to read and get a few insider secrets about the show!